Is it when you lie? When you take something that’s not yours? Or when you cheat? Think again.

Sin is when you exalt something that is not God. It is putting something or someone ahead of God in your life. Paul called it “exchanging the truth about God for a lie”. The truth about God?

The truth is God exists, he is the creator and he reigns supreme above all. When we suppress this truth and put ourselves, someone or something in a position only God should occupy, that is what is described as idolatry. That’s why the Ten Commandments start with “You shall have no other gods before me” – the root of all wrongdoing and all discord in this world.

So, lying is a wrongdoing that is a natural result of sin. Let’s see it this way: If I lie, the source of my reasoning in that moment is that I can control the order of reality to suit my own will.

“Did you drink the last bottle of coke in the fridge?”

“No, I didn’t”.

I am trying to manoeuvre the situation so I don’t seem like a greedy person. Or maybe I am not supposed to be drinking soft drinks because of my health. Thus, I attempt to steer reality, so I don’t get into trouble.

The truth is the only person who has the right and power to steer time and space is God, the creator of all. The moment I decided in my heart to lie, trying to shape reality into what I want it to be, I attempted to play God. Get it?

Ok another example, the mother of all examples: Adam and Eve. Most people think they sinned the moment they took a bite of the fruit. Nope, the sin happened before that – when they dared to dream of becoming like God. Their disobedience, them eating the fruit, was just a natural consequence of the sin they had already committed in their hearts – raising themselves equal to God.

Again, sin is exalting yourself, someone or something as God. It is not giving God the glory he deserves. Selah.

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is for ever praised. Amen.
(Romans 1:25)